Pan-Fried Italian Sausage

Name: Pan-Fried Italian Sausage
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Sausage 2 lbs; Garlic 2 cloves; White wine 4 tsp; Rosemary 2 sprigs; Bay leaves 2 leaves; Sage 2 leaves; Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Gluten Free
Lactose Free

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Serving: 4
Cost: Low

PRESENTATION

Italian sausage cooked in a pan is one of those recipes that doesn't need much introduction — except for the one step that separates a good result from a dry one. The sausage goes in over medium heat, not high, and gets turned regularly rather than left to sit. A splash of white wine goes in halfway through: it deglazes the pan, steams the interior of the sausage gently, and leaves behind a concentrated cooking liquid that becomes the base of the sauce. Fresh rosemary, thyme, or sage in the same pan does the rest.

The quality of the sausage is the only variable that matters here. A good Italian sausage — coarse-ground pork, well-seasoned, with enough fat to stay juicy through the cook — needs almost nothing else. Serve alongside mashed potatoes, which absorb the pan juices, or caramelized onions, which mirror the sweetness of the pork. It's the kind of dinner that takes twenty minutes and tastes like it didn't.

How to prepare Pan-Fried Italian Sausage

To prepare pan-fried sausage, first remove the string that ties them together 1 and keep the casing so they retain their shape. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large nonstick skillet, then lay in the sausages 2 and add the garlic cloves 3.

Season with rosemary 4, sage and bay leaf 5. Brown the sausages over medium-high heat until golden, then turn them to the other side 6; it will take about 6 minutes in total.

When theyre nicely colored, deglaze with the white wine 7 and let the alcohol fully evaporate. At this point remove the garlic 8, cover with the lid 9 and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes.

During cooking, stir occasionally to obtain an even color 10. Once ready, remove the aromatic herbs 11. Serve the pan-fried sausage immediately, garnished with a few rosemary sprigs and some sage leaves 12!